Athletics: Farken breaks Wessinghage's 1500-meter record

Middle-distance runner Robert Farken broke the nearly 45-year-old German record for the 1500 meters at the Diamond League meeting in Rome. In his season opener, the Leipzig native finished almost a second under the previous record set by Thomas Wessinghage (3:31.58) on August 27, 1980. In an Olympic men's discipline, only Lutz Dombrowski's long jump record (8.54 meters) is a month older.

Farken beat his own previous best by 1.3 seconds, finishing fourth and missing the podium in the Olympic Stadium by just 0.06 seconds. The 1500-meter specialist had already met the direct standard (3:33.00) for the World Championships in Tokyo (September 13-21) last year. The victory went to Frenchman Azzedine Habz (3:29.72). Another highlight was Olympic champion Beatrice Chebet over 5000 meters, the Kenyan running the second-best time in history in 14:03.69. Only Ethiopian Gudaf Tsegay was faster, setting a world record in September 2023 (14:00.21). In the 100 meters, two-time World Championship bronze medalist Trayvon Bromell (USA) shone with a world best of 9.84 seconds.

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Meanwhile, the German discus throwers failed to secure their hoped-for podium finish at the meeting at the Stadio Olimpico, also known as the "Golden Gala." Marike Steinacker (Leverkusen) finished fifth with a season-best throw of 64.78 meters, while former Olympic silver medalist Kristin Pudenz (Potsdam/64.12) finished seventh. Olympic champion Valarie Allman (USA) was once again unbeatable, setting a meeting record with a throw of 69.21 meters.

Long jumper Simon Batz (Mannheim) had to settle for seventh place with 7.84 meters. The surprise victory went to Australian Liam Adcock, who improved his personal best by one centimeter to 8.34 meters in his final attempt. He beat Olympic bronze medalist Mattia Furlani of Italy (8.13 meters) and Olympic champion Miltiadis Tendoglou of Greece (8.10 meters) to second place.